NETANYAHU, ROUHANI & OBAMA UNRAVELLED

Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu: 'The sole way to stop Iran's nuclear project is by maintaining or stiffening current sanctions, otherwise Israel will go it alone if need be!'

Iranian President Rouhani: 'We are ready to open a new page with the US; all it takes is a new diplomacy for lifting the sanctions imposed unjustly on our peaceful nuclear program.'

US President Obama: 'We are ready to give diplomacy a chance, but the military option remains on the table if Iran does not come clean on its nuclear project.'

What does all that UN rhetoric mean? It boils down to this: Israel's Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu believes Iran will continue, by hook or by crook, to develop a nuclear weapons capability; if necessary Israel will go it alone against Iran. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani is, by his own admission, a proven con artist, and his boss, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, will push on for the Bomb. US President Barack Obama says he is ready to give diplomacy a chance while keeping the military option on the table.

Once Tehran acquires the Bomb... it would be too dangerous to tamper with a nuclear armed Iran....[In the past, Rouhani] did a superb job of conning the West (as Iran's chief nuclear negotiator)...and even bragged about it in his book...

The three leaders have come and gone from the UN General Assembly with each leader presenting his country's current position while the Iranian nuclear crisis moves into a new and crucial stage. The stakes are sky-high. Iran may now be on the brink of an economic collapse, but it may be only weeks or months away from acquiring its first nuclear weapon. The race is now on: with thousands of new, advanced centrifuges, the Iranians could produce enough weapons grade uranium for their first A-bomb within eight weeks. All it would take would be be a green light from Supreme Leader Ali Khamanei. Once Tehran acquires the Bomb, it would be 'game over' because then it would be too dangerous to tamper with a nuclear armed Iran. So the question now is what will happen first - Iran's economy goes into a steeper tailspin that might spark rioting in the streets and threaten the Islamist leadership, or the Ayatollahs get their hands on their first A-bomb? This in turn would provide an insurance policy against rebellion at home or attack from abroad. With this in mind, Khamenei sent Rouhani to New York with one clear purpose: con the US into lifting the sanctions, while we advance to our first Bomb. And who better than Rouhani, who, in the past, did a superb job in conning the West. Rouhani even bragged about it in his book published in 2011. The Iranian President described his role as Iran's chief nuclear negotiator:

"While we were talking to the Europeans in Tehran, we were installing equipment in Isfahan". (Hopefully European negotiators, who were bamboozled by the Iranians for over a decade, will not lead the new round.)

Congress has the power to block any future move by the President to lift America's existing sanctions.

So, Rouhani set out not only to con President Obama but also American public opinion and, through it, the Congress, which proved so decisive in Obama's decision-making in the crisis over Syrian President Bashar al Assad's use of chemical weapons. Congress has the power to block any future move by the President to lift America's existing sanctions. (And what if in the future Obama again seeks Congressional approval for attacking Iran?). In his address, Netanyahu also tried to 'burst Rouhani's charm balloon' described by some Israeli commentators as no less than an Iranian high-powered marketing campaign for a new smart phone.

[Netanyanhu's] message was clear: the Europeans and Americans cannot not bury their heads in the sand with any future, flimsy nuclear deal with Iran - better for America to take on Iran today rather than be confronted with a far more dangerous Iran in the future.

It is not only Israel that might soon be in Iran's nuclear crosshairs, if America falls for Rouhani's chicanery. Netanyahu noted the US intelligence community's estimate that Iran is developing an intercontinental ballistic missile armed with a nuclear warhead that could 'reach New York within several years'. His message was clear: the Europeans and Americans cannot not bury their heads in the sand with any future, flimsy nuclear deal with Iran - better for America to take on Iran today rather than be confronted with a far more dangerous Iran in the future. This could be a sore spot between Netanyahu and Obama in the near future. On the basis of Iran's track record, the Israeli leader categorically opposes letting Iran's uranium enrichment be at even 3.5% non-weapons grade. Netanyahu again quoted straight from the horse's mouth:

"There are those who would readily agree to leave Iran with a residual capability to enrich uranium. I advise them to pay close attention to what Rouhani said his speech to Iran's Supreme Cultural Revolution Council. This was published in 2005. I quote:

'A country that could enrich uranium to about 3.5% will also have the capability to enrich it to about 90% (required for nuclear weapons). '

"This is why Iran's nuclear weapons program must be fully and verifiably dismantled"

North Korean & Syrian examples...

The deal exploded in Washington's face...when the North Koreans successfully detonated their first nuclear device and resumed their belligerent policies in the Far East.

The North Korean debacle was a case in point. The bizarre regime conned two US administrations into providing badly needed economic aid in return for Pyongyang's promise to halt its nuclear weapons program. The deal exploded in Washington's face, in October 2006, when the North Koreans successfully detonated their first nuclear device and resumed their belligerent policies in the Far East. Netanyahu noted that North Korea was a close ally and arms supplier to Iran. What would be more natural than for the Iranians to follow in North Korea's footsteps? In noting how the North Koreans had pulled the wool over the eyes of the West, the Israeli leader stressed the need for credible verification of Iran's nuclear facilities with the threat of a military response, if the Iranians tried to pull another fast one like they have so many times in the past. With the Iranians, Netanyahu indicated that Obama could succeed only by reversing President Theodor Roosevelt's famous comment about foreign policy to make it sound: 'Carry a big stick, and speak softly!' The Iranian game plan would be to offer minor nuclear concessions, that would not seriously slow down the nuclear weapons project, in return for the lifting some of the sanctions. The Iranians would hope to parlay this ponzi scheme into buying time while the centrifuges kept spinning, as they are today, in spite of Rouhani's charm offensive. Israeli cabinet minister Gilad Arden, a member of Netanyahu's entourage told Israel Radio: 'There were no wide gaps between Netanyahu and Obama at their closed door meeting in the White House. Although, it's only natural that they had not agreed on every detail'. The Likud cabinet minister was convinced that the 'vast majority' of Israelis backed Netanyahu when he declared:

"I want there to be no confusion on this point: Israel will not allow Iran to get nuclear weapons. If Israel is forced to stand alone, Israel will stand alone."

[Netanyahu made it clear] that the state of Israel perceived the Iranian nuclear threat as no less than that of the Holocaust.

Netanyahu also referred to 'others' in the region who would be in Israel's corner - an obvious reference to Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States which are just as worried as Israel over the spectre of a nuclear Iran. It is noteworthy that Netanyahu invoked references to his own father and grandfather in facing the Nazis in Europe, making it crystal clear that the state of Israel perceived the Iranian nuclear threat as no less than that of the Holocaust.